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Hebrews 6

Hebrews 6 joins a severe warning against falling away with confidence in God’s unchanging promise and Jesus’ enduring priesthood.

The writer urges Christian readers to move beyond foundational teaching toward maturity, if God permits. A severe warning describes people who have shared in spiritual gifts and then fallen away, followed by an image of land yielding crops or thorns. The writer then expresses confidence in the readers, recalling their service to fellow believers. Abraham’s patient endurance leads into God’s promise and oath, and the chapter closes with Jesus as high priest beyond the veil.

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1Therefore leaving the teaching of the first principles of Christ, let’s press on to perfection—not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God,
2of the teaching of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3This will we do, if God permits.
4For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.
7For the land which has drunk the rain that comes often on it and produces a crop suitable for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessing from God;
8but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
9But, beloved, we are persuaded of better things for you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we speak like this.
10For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.
11We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end,
12that you won’t be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherited the promises.
13For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,
14saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”
15Thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16For men indeed swear by a greater one, and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation.
17In this way God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath,
18that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.
19This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil,
20where as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Hebrews 6:10God’s remembrance of their loving service grounds the writer’s confidence in the readers after the severe warning.
Hebrews 6:18God’s promise and oath establish firm grounds for hope because his purpose stands and he cannot lie.
Hebrews 6:4This verse begins the warning by describing the great spiritual privileges of those whose falling away follows.
Where this chapter reaches

Genesis supplies the promise to Abraham and God’s oath by himself, which Hebrews uses to ground confidence in God’s unchanging purpose. Psalm supplies the language of a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, applied here to Jesus.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does the writer’s confidence in the readers shape your reading of the warning about falling away?

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What does the anchor image show you about the hope grounded in God’s promise and Jesus’ priesthood?

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Questions people ask about Hebrews 6

Does Hebrews 6:4–6 mean Christians can lose their salvation?

The passage describes people who received great spiritual privileges and then fell away, declaring renewal to repentance impossible. Christians differ over whether these people were saved or shared in the community’s blessings without saving faith. The warning concerns rejection of the Son of God; the writer then expresses confidence in the readers’ salvation.

What are the two immutable things in Hebrews 6:18?

The two immutable things are God’s promise and his confirming oath. The preceding verses recount his promise to Abraham and explain that God swore by himself because no one is greater. Together, the promise and oath assure the heirs that his purpose does not change and that he cannot lie.

What does the anchor of the soul mean in Hebrews 6:19?

The anchor pictures the security of hope grounded in God’s promise and oath. The image then reaches into the sanctuary beyond the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner. Hope rests on his presence there as the enduring high priest, connecting the anchor image with access to God.

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Hebrews · 13 chapters
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What the Bible says about doubt →What the Bible says about patience →What the Bible says about fear →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).